The Big List of 250 Useful German Adjectives (with FREE PDF!)

Adjectives… Wonderful, useful adjectives. They make language so much more precise and delightful to use--regardless of what language it is!

See how adjectives described adjectives in the previous sentences? They do make sentences more nuanced, don’t you think? Which is why here in this article, we’ll be learning a big chunk of German adjectives---250 to be exact!

And if you download the PDF, you’ll be getting 50 additional German verbs on the list.

English vs. German Adjectives

While German adjectives do the same things English adjectives do (in fact, there are plenty of cognates in German and English adjectives which we’ll talk about briefly later), the main difference is that:

German adjectives need to agree in gender and number of the noun it modifies, and

German adjectives would change depending on the case, whether it’s nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive.

But this is an altogether different lesson for another day. Today we will just talk about German adjectives in their original form.

Having said that, let’s jump into your list of the most frequently used German adjectives.

250 Useful German Adjectives

aalglatt

slippery

abenteuerlich

adventurous

abhängig

dependent

aggressiv

aggressive

ähnlich

similar

ahnungslos

clueless

aktiv

active

allein

alone

alt

old

anpassungsfähig

adaptable

anständig

decent

ärgerlich

annoying

arm

poor

art

kind

attraktiv

attractive

aufgeklärt

enlightened

aufgeregt

excited, upset, nervous

aufgeschlossen

open-minded

aufrichtig

sincere, genuine, candid

blass

pale

begabt

gifted, talented

begeistert

excited, enthusiastic, thrilled

berühmt

famous

beliebt, populär

popular

bestimmt

special, certain

besser

better

bequem

comfortable

bescheiden

modest, humble

beste

best

bezaubernd

enchanting, fascinating

billig

cheap, inexpensive

blöd

stupid, ignorant

blondine

blond

boshaft

malicious, mean

brav

well-behaved, good

charmant

charming

dankbar

grateful, thankful

dick

thick

direkt

direct, straight

doof, dumm

stupid, dumb

dunkel

dark

dünn

thin

ehrgeizig

ambitious

ehrlich

honest

eifersüchtig

jealous

einfach

simple, plain, easy

eingebildet

conceited, vain

einmalig

unique

einsam

lonely

ekelhaft

nasty, detestable

eklig

disgusting, gross

empfindlich

sensitive

eng

narrow, close

engagiert

dedicated, committed

engstirnig

narrow-minded

entscheidend

decisive

entspannend

laidback

erfolgreich

successful

ernst

serious

erste

first

erstklassig

first-class, high-quality, topnotch

falsch

wrong, false

fantastisch

fantastic

faszinierend

fascinating

faul

lazy

feig

cowardly

fein

fine

fest

solid, strong, firm

fett

fat

feigling

coward

fleißig

diligent, hard-working, industrious

fortgeschritten

advanced

frech

naughty, cheeky, sassy

frei

free

fremd

foreign, strange

freundlich

friendly, kind

froh

happy

fröhlich

cheerful

fromm

pious

früh

early

ganz

whole

gastfreundlich

hospitable

gebildet

educated, cultured

geduldig

patient

gefährlich

dangerous

gefühlvoll

sensitive, emotional

geistreich

witty, brilliant

geizig

stingy, cheap

gemein

low, rude, vulgar

gemeinsam

common, mutual

gemütlich

pleasant, cozy

genial

ingenious, brilliant

gerecht

just, righteous

geschätzt

dear, valued

gescheit

clever, bright

geschickt

skillful

geschwätzig

talkative, chatty

gesellig

sociable, friendly

gesund

healthy

gierig

greedy

glaubwürdig

credible, believable

gleich

same, right away, just

gleichzeitig

simultaneous

glücklich

happy, lucky, blessed

grausam

cruel

grob

coarse, uncouth, rude

großzügig

generous

groß

big, large, tall

grün

green

gut

good, well

gut angezogen

well-dressed

gut gelaunt

cheerful, in a good mood

halb

half

halsstarrig

stubborn

hart

hard, tough

hartnäckig

hard-headed, stubborn

hässlich

ugly

häufig

frequent

heiß

hot

heiter

cheerful

hell

bright, vivid

hemmungslos

uninhibited, unrestrained

herrlich

wonderful, magnificent, marvelous

herzlos

heartless, unfeeling

hilfreich

helpful

hinterlistig

deceitful, treacherous

hoch

high

hochmütig

haughty, proud

hochnäsig

snooty, stuck up

höflich

polite

hübsch

pretty, handsome

hundemüde

dog-tired

hungrig

hungry

idealistisch

idealistic

intelligent

intelligent

interessant

interesting

intolerant

intolerant

jung

young

kalt

cold, unfriendly

kindisch

childish

kindlich

childlike

klar

clear

klasse, toll, super

great, super

klein

small, little, short

kleinlich

petty, nit-picky

klug

smart, clever

komisch

funny, comical, odd

kompliziert

complicated

konservativ

conservative

kontaktfreudig

sociable, outgoing

kräftig

strong

krank

sick

kreativ

creative

kritisch

critical

krumm

crooked, hunched, bent

labil

unstable, frail

lang

long

langsam

slow

langweilig

boring

launisch

moody, temperamental

laut

loud, rowdy

lebendig

alive, lively

leicht

light, easy

leidenschaftlich

passionate

leise

quiet, soft

letzte

last

lieb

dear, beloved

liebenswürdig

lovable, amiable

lustig

funny

merkwürdig

unusual, strange

misstrauisch

mistrustful, distrustful

modisch

fashionable, stylish

mollig

plump, chubby

möglich

possible

moralisch

moral, ethical

mutig

brave

nächste

next

nachlässig

careless, negligent

nah

near

naß

wet

neidisch

envious

nervös

nervous

nett

kind, nice (person)

neu

new

neugierig

curious

niedergeschlagen

depressed, dejected

niedlich

cute

niedrig

low

notwendig

necessary

oberflächlich

superficial, shallow

offen

open

öffentlich

public

optimistisch

optimistic

ordentlich

orderly

passiv

passive

parteiisch

partial, biased, one-sided

peinlich

embarrassing

pessimistisch

pessimistic

praktisch

practical

privat

private

pünktlich

punctual, prompt

radikal

radical, revolutionary

raffiniert

refined, elegant

rauh

rough

rebellisch

rebellious

rechthaberisch

self-opinionated

redlich

honest

reich

rich

reif

mature

rein

pure, clean, clear

religiös

religious

richtig

correct, proper

riesig

huge

romantisch

romantic

rot

red

rücksichtslos

ruthless, inconsiderate

rücksichtsvoll

considerate

ruhig

calm

sauber

clean

sauer

angry, sour

schick

chic, stylish, fancy

schlampig

messy, sloppy

schlau

clever, cunning

schlecht, schlimm

bad, awful

schmutzig

dirty, filthy, soiled

schnell

fast, quick

schön

beautiful, pretty, nice

schüchtern

shy

schwach

weak, frail

schwarz

black

schwer, schwierig

difficult, heavy

schwerfällig

cumbersome, heavy, sluggish

schwermütig

gloomy, melancholic

selbstlos

unselfish

selbstsicher

self-confident

selbstsüchtig

selfish

selten

rare

seltsam

strange, weird

sensationell

sensational

sensibel

sensitive

sicher

safe, secure, certainly

sorgenlos, sorgenfrei

carefree

sorgfältig

careful

spät

late

spontan

spontaneous

sportlich

athletic

spöttisch

mocking, scornful

ständig

constant

stark

strong, powerful

stolz (auf)

proud (of)

If you want to download a longer list of 300 German adjectives, download your copy of the PDF below.

German Cognate Adjectives

There are lots of German adjectives that you could recognize easily if you’re an English speaker. These are some of them:

Some adjectives that end in -al are the same in English and German: normal, original, rational, ideal, diagonal

Some English adjectives that end in -al are changed to an -ell ending in German: sensationnel, generell, individuell

Some adjectives that end in -ent and -ant are the same in English and German: elegant, tolerant, excellent, intelligent

Some English adjectives that end in -ic or -ical are changed to -isch in German: analytisch, egoistisch, musikalisch

In cognate adjectives, the letter c in English is replaced with k: aktiv, kreativ, kompetent

This cognate list should already add several German adjectives in your vocabulary!

Conclusion

Adjectives are an important part of any language such as German. I hope this list of 250 (or 300 of you downloaded the PDF) will help broaden your German vocabulary.

To learn new German words painlessly, check out our e-book German Short Stories with Audio.